Cervical length as a predictor for preterm birth in low-risk women

Abstract

. Abstract Introduction: A common method used to calculate the potential risk of preterm birth is CL measurement. The development of markers with enhanced test characteristics is an important challenge because of the high falsely positive rate. Aim of the study: The current study aimed to determine the value of cervical length (CL) measurements (as determined by the single-and two-line techniques) in predicting of preterm birth (PTB). Subjects and Methods: The current study was a prospective cohort study carried out on 120 asymptomatic primigravida women at low risk of preterm labor (PTL), attending the Gynecology and Obstetrics department at Fayoum University Hospital, between February 2022 to August 2022. the study was designed to evaluate the role of the Cervical length (CL) measurements in Preterm birth (PTB) prediction. cervical length was measured by trans-vaginal ultrasound. Pregnancy data and maternal history were documented, then, delivery-related statistics were obtained. Results: The average age of included women was (21.79 ±3.3) years old, an average BMI (24.6 ±5.8) kg/m 2 , and an average GA at delivery of (38.46 ±1.98) weeks. Out of the studied 120 women fifteen (12.5%) experienced a preterm. birth Cervical length was estimated by single and two-lines methods; CL was significantly shorter among pre-term women as compared with term. There was a positive linear moderate correlation between GA and CL-one line (r= 0.260, P =0.004 ). Also, a positive linear strong correlation between GA and CL-two lines (r= 0.716, P <0.001 ). Using ROC curve analysis, the sensitivity and specificity of CL for prediction of pre-term birth was evaluated. Conclusions: The CL (single and two-lines) approaches are effective at predicting preterm birth. However, by incorporating additional factors as CL, maternal demographics, and obstetric history, the detection of sPTB rate can be enhanced even further.